The Matamata Racing Club (MRC) has long been recognised as one of New Zealand’s most significant racing and training centres.

On a daily basis, approximately 60 trainers and more than 700 horses use the Matamata racecourse facilities, comprising grass, plough, sand and all-weather tracks, as well as a swimming pool, schooling fences, weighing scales and other modern aids including customised jumpout gates.

Matamata trainers invariably play a leading role in the country’s major races as well as enjoying their share of success at Australian racing carnivals.

Situated in the centre of New Zealand’s highest racing and breeding population, Matamata is blessed with skilled veterinarians, farriers, pre-trainers, horse breakers, agisters and the like, along with a full range of feed merchants, saddlers and equine transporters.

That central location also has significance for Matamata’s racing population, with 10 racecourses within a two-hour drive and other provinces such as Hawke's Bay, Taranaki and Manawatu also relatively close at hand.

In recent years the MRC has undertaken a pro-active programme of building stable accommodation on the course and renting it out, with the results enjoyed by resident trainers Lance O' Sullivan & Andrew Scott, Steve Autridge and Graham Richardson proving the worth of that policy.

Matamata Racing Club's facilities include two grandstands overlooking the main racetrack and the various training tracks, with the Kaimai Ranges providing a picturesque backdrop.